Alabama women’s basketball defeated Florida 69-62 at home on Thursday night, continuing a trend of alternating wins and losses for the eighth straight game.

“Our dream is still alive,” coach Kristy Curry said. “Our backs are against the wall now. It’s fight, claw, scrape. I mean we are just all at it right now, so a sense of urgency. That’s our key word is just having the right kind of urgency to be the best that we can be today at this moment.”

Alabama turned up the heat in the last three minutes of the game after earning two points at the free-throw line, which put the Crimson Tide ahead by two. The offense held the Gators at bay until the end of the game to secure Alabama its 7-point win, just its third against Florida in the last 11 meetings.

“We tried to get off to a good start,” redshirt junior guard Jordan Lewis said. “I think that is very important in this league and I also think it’s very important to do the little things to take the charges and take the rebound and hold them to one shot. All the teams are good in this league, and Florida specifically was a good offensive rebound team so I think it was important for us to lock down on them.”

The first quarter was a constant hustle for both teams, resulting in four ties and three lead changes. Alabama dominated in the paint, earning eight points to Florida’s two.

The Crimson Tide led by eight early in the second quarter, but a Florida rally gave the Gators the lead with three minutes before halftime.

A 3-pointer from sophomore guard Hannah Barber with 20 seconds left put Alabama ahead by 2 and closed the half at 35-33.

Alabama held on to its 2-point lead for most of the third quarter. Florida jumped ahead in the last 17 seconds, earning a free throw and making the score 49-48 going into the fourth quarter.

The Gators led by 6 within the final eight minutes, but a 10-3 run capped by a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Brittany Davis gave the Crimson Tide the lead for good.

Lewis led the team with 16 points, followed by junior forward Jasmine Walker with nine. Lewis also had eight rebounds, six assists and five turnovers.

Senior forward Ashley Knight and redshirt senior guard Amber Richardson provided the team with a lot of intensity on defense, earning some stops throughout the game.

Alabama (14-11 overall, 6-8 SEC) travels to No. 9 Mississippi State on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.